


Second Best

by HannahPelham



Series: Lizzy and Colonel Fitzwilliam and/or Duke of Wellington [1]
Category: Pride and Prejudice & Related Fandoms, Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Genre: F/M, inspired by AMarguerite and her glorious Ever Fixed Mark series, lizzy and the colonel go better together fucking fight me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:53:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25668505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HannahPelham/pseuds/HannahPelham
Summary: Elizabeth Bennet, an up and coming writer in London, is introduced to her friend Marjorie Stornoway's brother in law, Colonel Fitzwilliam, and sparks fly between the two second siblings. Modern AU.
Relationships: Elizabeth Bennet/Colonel Fitzwilliam
Series: Lizzy and Colonel Fitzwilliam and/or Duke of Wellington [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1861216
Comments: 7
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AMarguerite](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AMarguerite/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Restricted Work] by [AMarguerite](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AMarguerite/pseuds/AMarguerite). Log in to view. 



> A/N: The Colonel’s family appears as in AMarguerite’s An Ever-Fixed Mark - all copyright for those characters goes to her

A/N: The Colonel’s family appears as in AMarguerite’s An Ever-Fixed Mark - all copyright for those characters goes to her

Lizzy Bennet once again found herself at one of Marjorie Stornoway’s parties. Marjorie Fitzwilliam, or the Viscountess Stornoway as Lizzie supposed she should address her in company, had always been a good friend to her since she’d met her at a party hosted by somebody or other. Lizzy had moved to London a year ago to pursue her dreams as a writer, and had been grateful for Marjorie’s friendship and influence. This, however, was the first time Lizzie had been to a party at Marjorie’s home, where she lived with her husband the Viscount and her father in law, the Earl of Matlock. She’d met most of Marjorie’s in-laws out and about in London - her sister in law Honoria and her partner Miss Duncan, and Lady Sybil and her Tahitian husband when they were in town. She had never met the sister that lived in Denmark (whose name she did not even know), or her brother in law Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam. The Colonel was the second son, was in the Army, and was unmarried. By telling her this specifically, Lizzy was sure that Marjorie was attempting to set the pair of them up, but she tried not to dwell on it. Sure, she wouldn’t mind having Marjorie as a sister-in-law, but the rest of the family could be a tad formidable. 

But yes, Lizzy found herself sitting on a sofa in the library, sipping a beer, looking around Matlock House, wondering how she made such friends in London so quickly. The party was in full swing, Marjorie had set up a dance floor in the main drawing room, once used for smart Georgian receptions, now a sweaty dancefloor that would be sticky and horrible by the end of the night. Lizzy liked to escape - for one so Marjorie also knew where to find her, but also because dancing wasn’t particularly her thing. She would if someone asked her too, but she’d rather sit and watch and get ideas for things to write. For the first time in a long time, Lizzy soon found herself joined by somebody she’d never met before. 

“Elizabeth Bennet, right? You’re a friend of Marjorie’s?” the person, a tall man with mousy brown floppy hair, asked. 

“That’s it, and call me Lizzy, everybody else does” she replied.

“Richard Fitzwilliam - the Colonel” The man explained. Lizzy was sure she made a face of realisation, as he laughed at her as the cogs clicked around in her head as to who he was. 

“I’ve heard about you, Marjorie told me about your serving in Spain” 

“It seems” Richard said, sighing slightly, “that there isn’t anybody who doesn’t know about my serving in Spain”

Lizzy laughed nervously, unsure of the reaction she should give. She loosened a little as the Colonel smiled at her. Before their conversation could get even vaguely interesting, Richard heard his name being bellowed from the other room, repeatedly. He ignored it for a moment, not wanting to leave Lizzy’s company, but it continued ad nauseum. 

“Have coffee with me? Tomorrow?” He asked quickly. Lizzy nodded as Honoria appeared and dragged her brother to the dancefloor. She laughed as he waved, his other arm practically being pulled out of its socket.

The next morning, Lizzy awoke to a text from an unknown number:

_ I got your number from Marjorie - brunch? 11am? Norland coffee? Richard x _

_ See you at 11. Lizzy x _

For once in her life, Lizzy was nervous. Was this going to be a date? Was it two possible future romantic acquaintances having brunch? She tried to convince herself that she didn’t care and that it was all chill and fine, but after spending at least half an hour staring into her wardrobe and trying on various outfits, she realised that she did care and was not chill or fine in the slightest. She had been slightly struck the night before about how everyone who had ever spoken to her about Richard Fitzwilliam had failed to mention how attractive he was. Maybe they didn’t think he was - Lizzy certainly did. In fact, she was surprised at how attractive she found him. Maybe Marjorie trying to set them up wouldn’t be such a bad thing in the end. 

She arrived at Norland coffee with five minutes to spare, and was pleasantly surprised to find the Colonel waiting for her outside. 

“You could have gone in and sat down, you know?” She said as she approached, subconsciously smoothing down her pink and blue striped t-shirt. 

“That would be rude, Miss Bennet, and I try not to be a rude man” Richard replied as he held the door open for her. 

“I do not have that liberty often, I have four sisters, I have to be rude to get anything at home” Lizzy said. Richard’s eyebrows raised significantly at the mention of four sisters. 

“I have four siblings too - though I am lucky enough to have a brother among them. Where do you place?” he asked. He sipped his coffee quickly and Lizzy laughed as he made a face as he burnt his tongue. 

“Second, like you I gather” 

“That’s it” Richard explained, “it goes Julian, Lord Stornoway that is, and then myself, Honoria, Sybil, and Arabella”

“Arabella! I never knew your other sister’s name - she is the one who lives in Copenhagen now, right?” Lizzy asked. She wondered why Marjorie never really talked about Lady Arabella, but that was something to ponder on another day, perhaps when she didn’t have Richard sat right in front of her looking wonderful in a shirt and jeans. Lizzy could hardly believe, actually, how good he looked. In her nice t-shirt and skinny jeans, she felt a tad underdressed. 

“That’s her - she seems happy enough out there. Only really comes back at Christmas, which I think is too often for her”

“My sisters are far too present for me sometimes...Jane, the eldest I’m very close to, she just got engaged to Charlie Bingley, I think he’s a friend or colleague of your cousin, Will Darcy” She said. Richard smiled at the mention of his cousin. They weren’t as close as they used to be, but would go for a drink when they were both in town. 

“Oh yes” Richard replied, “I heard about that, Will’s pleased for him, he says”

“Then there’s Mary, who’s very studious and quiet and we’re fairly sure she’s a lesbian but she’s never shown any interest either way so it may just not be her thing” Lizzy explained. 

“Which is more common than one expects” he commented. 

“I imagine it is - I wish it was more common amongst my younger sisters. Kitty and Lydia are only 16 and have had a few boyfriends apiece. They’re silly young girls but I suppose I shouldn’t judge if it makes them happy” 

“And what about you?” Richard asked. 

“What do you mean?”

“Boyfriends - are you interested? Do you have one?” he continued. He wanted to know if he was to make anything happen with Lizzy, which he very much wanted it to. 

“Yes I’m interested, and no I don’t have one. You?” She replied. Richard tried hard to hide a sigh of relief. 

“Boyfriends? Have had in the past - I’m bisexual, before you ask”

“Very modern - I think I might be too but that’s a discussion for another day” Lizzy commented quickly. Richard made a mental note to ask her about that somewhen in the future. 

“But I don’t have a boyfriend or a girlfriend currently, luckily”

“Luckily?”

“If I did I wouldn’t be sat here talking to you” Richard said confidently. He realised that fannying around the point he wanted to make wouldn’t work with Lizzy - she was an upfront kind of girl, it seemed, so he decided to be upfront about what he wanted. Lizzy smiled, a touch nervously, as their food was placed in front of them. They chatted a little as they ate, but mostly Lizzy was focused on not staring at him. This was definitely a first date, and she couldn’t believe that she of all people was on a date with somebody as wonderful as Richard. 

When she arrived home and finally checked her phone, she found a missed call from Marjorie, and a message telling her that she was required to have dinner with her at Matlock House that evening. Lizzy quickly realised that Richard might be there and accepted. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to have dinner with Marjorie, but if it wasn’t for the prospect of seeing Richard for the second time in a day, she’d have taken Marjorie out for dinner. 

She couldn’t quite place why she’d got so attached to Richard quickly, not until she walked into Matlock house and saw him walking down the magnificent staircase in a casual suit. She was practically speechless. 

Richard smirked at her as he walked over. She was wearing a green silk dress and he didn’t think he’d seen anybody look as beautiful as she did in that moment. Richard knew it was silly but he was sure he was already in love with her. 

“Hello” Lizzy managed to get out, as she studied the man in front of her. Richard looked around to make sure there were no onlookers, and leant forward. He pressed a quick but passionate kiss to her lips, before he dragged her by the hand to the drawing room, where Marjorie and Lord Stornoway and other members of the Fitzwilliam family were waiting. 

Lizzy managed to recover sufficiently from Richard kissing her to take part in the conversation. There was talk of Lady Arabella in Denmark, Lady Sybil in Tahiti, Lady Honoria and Miss Duncan’s recent trip up to Dora’s family home in Aberdeen. Lizzy didn’t contribute much, but she made polite conversation with Lord Stornoway until they were called in to dinner. 

At dinner, as she expected, she was sat next to Richard. Richard, who spent most of dinner with a hand on her knee, moving up her thigh as they all drank more and more wine. 

“What are you trying to do, Richard?” She managed to whisper as dessert was served. 

“I’ve no idea what you’re talking about, Lizzy” He replied, smirking. During a particularly noisy conversation between the Earl and Lady Honoria, Richard gave Lizzy the directions to his bedroom from the guest room Marjorie had insisted she stay in. He had no idea whether she’d make an appearance in his four poster bed, but he might as well try. 

When they eventually retired to bed, with Marjorie and Lizzy being the last two to turn in around midnight, Lizzy made her way to Richard’s bedroom. He’d handily tied a bow tie around the door handle so she’d know she had the right room. She knocked lightly, and slipped through the door as Richard opened it. He closed the door behind her quietly, and pressed his lips to hers before she could say anything. It was gentle and refined and completely unlike what Lizzy had expected as she walked through the grand corridors of Matlock House. He undid the buttons on her dress with grace and elegance, and not once did Lizzy feel like she was doing something she shouldn’t, or even like she was having a one night stand. As she lay in Richard’s arms afterwards, she hoped and almost prayed that it wouldn’t just be once. 

She needn’t have doubted, when she woke up the next morning to find Richard holding her tight to his chest. She glanced over at her phone and saw that she didn’t have long to get back to the guest room in which she was staying. She kissed Richard quickly, who nodded with understanding, and crept back before she could be seen. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your patience with this chapter! I've been on holiday amongst other things so thanks for your patience

After a few weeks of dinners at Matlock House and secret trysts with Richard, Lizzy realised she might have to tell Marjorie she was dating her brother-in-law, if dating was what it was. She didn’t really know. They went out for lunch and shagged at Matlock House fairly frequently, but Lizzy wasn’t sure this could be called dating. She supposed she should check that before she told Marjorie. How does one ask the person one is shagging whether you two are dating? Lizzy hoped an explanation would arise without her having to ask. Asking would be awkward. 

It was Saturday night, so Lizzy once again found her sitting at the grand dining table at Matlock House. Marjorie was directly opposite her, and Richard was next to her. Lizzy was sitting in what was, by rights, Honoria’s seat, but she wasn’t there and Marjorie had insisted that Lizzy was as much of a sister to her as her sister-in-law. Little did Marjorie know, of course, that there was becoming a real chance of Lizzy actually becoming her sister in law. Lizzy considered herself very lucky to be an honorary member of the Fitzwilliam family. Apart from being friends with Marjorie, who had married into the family herself, she had no idea how it had happened. She guessed Richard might have something to do with it, but she was sure he would be more careful, considering that whatever was between them wasn’t public by any means. She thought Richard would be careful about saying anything. She had no idea how seriously he was taking anything between them. She wondered if he was thinking about it as seriously as she was. 

She had pondered, the night before, whether she might be capable of falling in love with Richard. As she did, she realised it would be good for her family. They weren’t poor, they had a decent sized home in a nice village in the home counties, but marrying the son of an Earl wouldn’t hurt. She had four sisters, though one was married and the other was engaged, but her two remaining sisters would be grateful of the opportunity being with Richard would afford Lizzy. She tried to be very modern about it, but she couldn’t deny that the social rank that would come with her being The Honourable Mrs. Richard Fitzwilliam would be very advantageous indeed. 

Since when had this become about marrying Richard, rather than falling in love with him?

In any case, as far as Lizzy knew, Richard wasn’t falling in love with her. He could break up with her at any time, if breaking up was the right turn of phrase, Lizzy reasoned. 

This, of course, wasn’t the case. If it was, we wouldn’t have a story to tell. 

As Richard sat next to Lizzy at the dining table of Matlock House, he wondered how he got so lucky to have something with her. He knew he had to do something about his feelings for her, otherwise he could quite easily lose her to somebody much more important and attractive than him. He knew he had to make his move, stop playing his cards so close to his chest, or risk his lifelong happiness. 

“Richard? Richard? Richard!” Marjorie called across the dinner table, to rouse him from his thoughts. 

“Sorry, miles away” Richard replied, “what were you talking about?”

“We were talking about your return to the Army, whenever that may be” 

“When General Wellington commands it, which could be tomorrow to defend him against his wife, so who knows” Richard replied, making the whole table erupt in laughter. Lizzy joined in with the laughing, even though her brain was wondering what it would be like for her when Richard did rejoin the Army. Where would he be based? Where would he be posted? What if he was injured? What if he was killed, even? Lizzy tried to distract herself with her dessert, but it didn’t really work. As Lizzy and the younger members of the Fitzwilliam family sat together in the drawing room, chatting and drinking, Richard made his way over to her. 

“Come on Lizzy, what’s up?” He asked, placing a gentle hand on her knee. It was an innocent enough gesture to look platonic, when all Richard wanted to do was to pull Lizzy into his arms and kiss her problems away. 

“Nothing, I’ll tell you later” She whispered in reply, seeming to confirm that they would indeed be sharing a bed that night. Richard smiled weakly, happy to hear that she would be coming to him later in the evening, but worried about her. He knew his concern might appear a bit obvious, to those like Marjorie who knew both of them so well, but he didn’t care. 

Lizzy tried to join in for the rest of the evening, but failed miserably. She batted away comments about her demeanor, and retired early to bed in her usual room. She knew Richard would come and find her there. It had been silently agreed that whoever went to bed second would seek out the first in their room. 

Lizzy was half asleep when Richard walked into her room an hour or so after she’d gone to bed. His tie was hanging around his neck and his top two buttons were undone. Lizzy thought he looked roguish and handsome but also soft and welcoming. She, in her button up pyjamas, looked the least sexy she thought Richard had ever seen her. He stripped down to his boxers and climbed into the bed, letting her curl up in his arms. He could tell he wasn’t going to be having sex with Lizzy tonight, but he didn’t care. He wanted her to be ok. 

“Come on Lizzy, what was with the long face earlier?” He whispered as he noticed she was cuddling a white toy bunny with flowery ears. He assumed the toy was a comfort from childhood.

“I was thinking about what would happen to me if you got hurt in the Army, and I got sad” Lizzy replied quietly after a moment. Richard pulled her as close as he could and pressed a kiss to her forehead. 

“Oh you needn’t worry about that Lizzy, you’d be the first to know anyway” Richard replied. Lizzy sat up slightly at that, she assumed his next of kin would be the first to be informed if he were injured or killed. He realised he needed to explain, and it would mean making a big confession to Lizzy. 

“Elizabeth, I am in love with you. By the time I go back to the Army, if I go back at all, I hope we might be engaged or married and I know this is ridiculous because you’re probably not in love with me and that’s fine but that is my dream” Richard said, so quickly Lizzy hardly realised what he’d said. She kissed him eagerly, before she found her voice.

“Sounds perfect. I love you too” She replied quickly. Richard couldn’t believe his ears. Lizzy actually loved him too? She actually wanted a future with him? All he could do was kiss her and curl up into the soft bed with her and dream about their future. 

When Richard woke the next morning, he was surprised to see Marjorie sat on the end of the bed, handing Lizzy a cup of tea. 

“I knew, by the way” She said as she walked out of the room. Lizzy turned over and smiled as she saw Richard sat there, though she was wondering what he was thinking about Marjorie.

“Saves us having to tell her I suppose” Lizzy said as she sipped her tea. They’d obviously slept in longer than expected, and Marjorie had brought her a cup of tea, to see how she was feeling, and had found Richard in her bed. 

She’d expected it, and sort of guessed. She knew Richard was always happier when Lizzy was around, and she’d noticed Lizzy’s face would light up whenever Richard spoke or was mentioned, as much as she tried to hide it. 

“I suppose. Are you my girlfriend now?” Richard asked, as he pressed the still-working servants bell to get a cup of tea himself. 

“I suppose so, boyfriend” Lizzy replied as Richard asked the maid very kindly to bring him some tea. Normally he’d go and get it himself, he had no idea why Matlock House still had staff, but right now he really couldn’t be bothered to move, he was too busy being all cosy with his girlfriend (!). 

Richard was immediately planning their entire future in his head, every holiday they’d go on, where they’d get engaged, where they’d get married, how many children they’d have (seven, he hoped stupidly), what they’d be called (named after the Von Trapp children, also stupid). He sipped his tea when the maid brought it in, with huge thanks and promise of a home baked cake from Lizzy, and wondered how he found himself in this situation. Only a few weeks ago he was being introduced to Lizzy Bennett, a friend of his sister-in-law, and now the beautiful, funny, intelligent, wonderful Lizzy Bennett was his girlfriend. Richard Fitzwilliam didn’t consider himself very lucky, really. He had a nice job in the Army, he had a nice enough family but he was the second son, not due to inherit anything, but he was luckiest in the fact that he had Lizzy. He could face anything his family would throw at him with Lizzy by his side. 

In answer to all of Richard’s earlier questions, they got engaged at the Duke of Wellington’s estate of Stratfield Saye one weekend when they were invited there. They got married at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, after the Duke of Wellington convinced the Prince Regent to let them, after Richard’s help defeating Napoleon a couple of years earlier. They ended up having four daughters: Chrissie, Isabella, Nancy, and Rebecca. 

I am pleased to inform you that The Honourable Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam and Mrs Elizabeth Fitzwilliam, along with their daughters, lived happily ever after. 


End file.
